James Pethokoukis

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I spoke with Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman on Tuesday evening, just as he was putting the finishing touches on his economic plan, which he announced Wednesday. (Here are all the details.) Some excerpts from our conversation:

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Current polls say Jon Huntsman, former Utah governor and ambassador to China, isn’t a top tier candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. But he certainly has a top-tier economic plan. Huntsman will offer a broad proposal later today – covering taxes, regulation, trade and energy. But I already had a peek at the tax part. And I think it is excellent. Huntsman says he would do the following:

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When was the last time someone announced for U.S. president with a barn-burner of a speech? I can’t think of one recently, not even Barack Obama in 2007. And Jon Huntsman’sspeech was certainly no worse than Mitt Romney’s or Tim Pawlenty’s. But style aside, what did he say? He seems to want to deal with entitlements sooner rather than later:

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When Jon Huntsman, America’s man in Beijing until recently, joins the U.S. presidential race next week, he won’t be coming alone. His entry will add a China spin to the economic issues under debate by the current Republican field. That alone should make his candidacy one worth watching.